Organization and Behaviour

INTRODUCTION TO ORGANIZATION BEHAVIOR

Organization behavior investigates the influence on people and structure in business organization to learn and study. This investigation plays significant role in the achievement of business objective the organization (Francesco and Gold, 2005). There may be different types of organizational behavior, so that various organizational structures and cultures will be discussed in the following research report. Various factors influencing individual behavior as well as different leadership styles and approaches to management will also be explained here.

City college and rent case studies represents- A car manufacturing uses leadership and management styles as variants for its operations, which will be helpful in making this report. In year 2002, City College was established in north east London. Mr. Wakefield a private investor in year 2012 acquired City College. Rent- A- Car on other side is one of the largest purchasers of cars and foremost car hire company, founded in 1957 by Jack Taylor in St Louis.

TASK 1: Types of organization structures and culture

Compare and contrast different organizational structures and culture (LO 1.1)

Organization culture means the people’s behavior in the organization towards the values and norms of the organization, work language and symbols, habits and beliefs are considered to be correct in thinking and help to fight against the problems and opportunities of the company (Schneider and Barsoux, 2003). Clan, adhocracy, hierarchy and market culture are different types of market culture having their own pros and cons. These can be explained as: In this culture, there exists only one leader to be placed at the main central level

Power culture – In this culture, there is an existence of only one leader to be placed at the main central level who has the sole power to lead an entire organization. The advantage of this culture is that with this, there is existence of discipline and less of ambiguity within firm and among employees. The problem with power culture is that employees cannot express their views freely and have no role in decision making because of which they can face lack of motivation and morale (Jones and Scott, 2011).

Task culture – In this culture, temporary task teams are formulated so as to complete specific tasks so as to meet the company needs. The advantage of this culture is that because of changing teams there is a close association between various departments. The disadvantage with task culture is that since it is subject to a lot of changes which may not be favored by employees every time and may often show resistance (4 Types of Organizational Culture, 2013).

Role culture - In this culture, hierarchy is designed in such manner that top level can have an open and easy interaction with subordinates and thus bringing efficiency in work. The benefit with role culture is that more and more interaction brings in functional efficiency and problem is that communication with only superiors lead to only a little coordination among other staff of organization.

Person culture – In this type of culture, employees working within an organization always help one another and it exist in firm that is run by two or more individuals in partnerships (The Tipser, 2013). The advantage of this culture is that since all help one another power is often shared and employees can express their views. The disadvantage of this culture is that too much of freedom can often lead to lack of work done by employees.

There exist two main types of organizational structures i.e, Tall structure and Flat structure, described as:

Tall Structure: This structure represents the larger hierarchy of operation as it holds lagre business enterprises. There are different managerial levels in structure which helps in proper supervision of employees.

Flat Structure: Here management structure includes small hierarchy and tries to tap the talent of creative employees and solves collaborative problems. In change situation it is more flexible and easy to adapt. (Griffin, 2013).

Culture followed by City College is clan culture and flat organizational structure on the other hand rent a car uses a market culture and tall organizational structure. As Rent-A- Car is a very large firm so it follows, tall organizational structure as it is very helpful in effective control of employees and achieving effective objectives of the organization. Here the communication process is too large which affects the company in making correct decision. The structure followed by City College is flat organizational structure so that it becomes a sustainable college. By collaboration it will help the student in solving their problems in effective manner. This Structure helps in improving the workload, which results in effective supervision of managers. Rent A Car enterprise uses power culture because of which it is able to inculcate discipline among employees and bring efficiency in their work while city college uses person culture through use of which all staff are helpful to one another and also help them to perform their duties in an effective manner (George and Jones, 2002).

TASK 2: Relationship between an organization’s structure and culture

Explain the impact of relationship between an organization’s structure and culture

Every organizational structure adopt organizational culture. The culture of a company is affected by the structure to a great extent, so both of them are related to each other. The culture defines the code of conduct of people by the value and norms. It ensures overall development of individuals working in the organization. Culture provides clear picture of vision mission and provide helps to take decision. So ultimately organization culture has great impact on the structure of an organization (Alles and Cabrera, 2006). It is the structure of an organization that defines the lines of authority and determines flow of communication within it. The organizational structure determines the culture which sets norms and standards for the employees to follow. Both of them together affect performance of a firm as they both determine flow of work and the way it will be done. Both set standards for personnel who follow them and thus affects their performance.

For example, City College used Clan organizational culture owing to the requirement of different departments in its structure for its proper functioning and for performing activities related to business in effective manner. Such culture is also needed to find solutions to problem arising at the place. Whereas, Rent-A-Car Enterprise has a market culture which needs different managerial level i.e. tall organizational culture. This culture improves relations with the external environment and is also required for control of employees within a proper scope. Similarly the culture dependent on the organizational structure, as the code of conduct values, beliefs, morale, working environment, norms, and ethics all are affected by the structure of an organization (Sivakumar, 2009). For instance, City College uses flat organizational structure, which requires open and friendly culture in the college, where as Rent-A-Car Enterprise used tall organizational structure, which needs rigid and highly structured culture in the organization. It is both culture and structure of an organization that has an influence on the performance and working of employees which have impact on productivity and performance of the business organization like City College. For example, City College implements flat organizational structure and culture that it applies is clan, which provides free and friendly environment for employees. These result in increasing the morale of employees and thus improving their efficiency as well as satisfaction. This increases the ability of staff in communicating with students properly and thus improving their performance. This culture and structure leads to an overall improvement of the City College. Thus, organizational performance is affected to a large extent by both these factors.

TASK 3: Define the word behavior and identify the various factors

Discuss the factors which influence individual behavior at work (LO 1.3)

Behavior of an individual within an organization is the way one acts or behaves at the workplace. The behavior of a person at the place of work is influenced by a number of factors that include its culture of place, ethics as well as values and attitudes of the individuals. There are a range of factors that have an influence on the way a person behaves at the workplace within an organization that involve personal factors as well as communication, leadership and motivation along with the working environment at the premises. The ways in which these have an impact on personnel behavior are as follows –

Personal factors – Personal factors which have an impact on behavior are the personality, values, skills as well as abilities and knowledge possessed (Williams, 2007). The number of personal factors that influence the behavior and action of employees at place of work are as follows-

Believes and Values: All people do not have some same types of believe and values. The behavior of employees is greatly affected by those believe and values of people, as they are those thoughts of individuals that determines that selection of right and wrong things at work.

Personality: Personality of a person includes its characteristics and traits that have an influence on behavior at the time working in the organization (Fekete and Keith, 2001). For example, the employees of City College are multi-skilled that helps them for working together to effectively achieve the goals of the organization.

Skills and Abilities: Skills and knowledge as possessed by employees also has an influence on their behavior at work. This is so as it is the proficiencies that make them to perform their accountabilities and responsibilities in proper manner.

Leadership, Communication and Motivation: Factors like leadership along with motivation and communication also influences the behavior of personnel at work. This is so because in the absence of an effective leadership no employee is motivated to perform their responsibilities in proper manner. Similarly, until and unless there is absence of open communication among all employees until then no effective work can be accomplished at the place (Elango, 2007). For example, implementation of these at City College helps in achieving satisfaction of employees.

Working conditions: Working conditions that exist at the place is among one of the crucial factors that influences the individual work at the workplace. Working conditions mainly involve the work environment that is maintained by good employer employee relationships as well as open communication among all the employees (Huczynski and Buchanan, 2000). For example, it is known from the case study that City College favorable working conditions by maintaining healthy relations among all staff as well as between them and managers. As a result, this influences their behavior within organization and thus they work with more dedication and commitment.

TASK 4: Various approaches to management and leadership theories

Compare the effectiveness of different leadership styles in different organizations (LO 2.1)

The City College is using democratic leadership style and in the Rent-A-Car Enterprise is mainly democratic leadership style is used, but sometime some leader uses autocratic leadership style also. In Autocratic leadership style the leaders possess all the powers and authorities (Snowden and Gorton, 2002). In this style, all decisions are taken only by the leader alone without even involvement of subordinates. The employees’ even do not have any say in the decision making process and so they also do not have the opportunity of participating in the process. In this respect, no suggestions on part of the subordinates are acceptable to the leaders who follow this style (Bachmann, 2002). This leadership style is effective for in some cases in the Rent-A-Car Enterprise, when there is a requirement of making quick decisions as well as for effectively supervising or controlling employees for getting things done. Autocratic leadership style may not be effective for City College and in some cases of Rent-A-Car Enterprise also it is not effective, when there are high skilled and creative employees who like to work in collaboration or group.

Conversely, in democratic leadership style the employees also participate in the decision making process, as they provide their suggestions and recommendations to the leaders. The leaders also consider those inputs of employees at the time of making decisions. This leadership style is very effective in most of cases for the City College as well as for the Rent-A-Car Enterprise, as it leads to make the employees felt valued and respected in the organization, which in turn improves the moral and satisfaction level of employees (Korman, 2010). It leads to effectively motivate the employees and to boost their efficiency and productivity as well as improves the productivity of the organizations like City College and Rent-A-Car Enterprise also. It is very effective to make changes in the companies, as it helps to avoid resistance to changes from the employees. Some time it may not effective, as it take long time for making decision and if there is requirement of making quick decisions, it will be not effective.

Various leadership theories:

Situational Theories: According to situational theory, leaders use different leadership styles on the basis of decisions. It is very helpful for dealing with different circumstances and different types of employees in the organization (Cherry, n.d).

Behavioral Theories: According to this theory, leaders are not born, but they are made. It looks at the work of leaders and believes that leadership qualities can be learned. It helps to develop new leaders.

Relationship Theories: As per the relationship theories, leaders are the source of motivation for the employees as they help them in solving their doubts and difficulties and thus inspiring them to work with dedication. It is very helpful to improve the performance of employees by motivating them (Cardona, 2000).

Various approaches to management:

Human Behavior Approach: It understands the relations of employees and the behavior of employees. It helps to improve productivity of the organization by applying effective management by understanding the employee behavior (Booth, 2004).

Systems Approach: According to this management approach, the organizations are the mad-made systems. Here, the internal part focuses on achieving the business objectives and external part focuses on improving relations with business environment.

Decision Theory Approach: Here, the decisions are the controlling points in the company and all the problems are solved effectively with the help of effective decisions. It is effective in large organizations for solving different problems and to manage many employees (Mullins, 1999).

TASK 5: Different approaches to management and leadership theories

Evaluate the different approaches used by the City College and Enterprise, You may include examples from other organizations to support your evaluationExplain how organizational theory underpins the practice of management (LO 2.2)According to the case study, City College has implemented the theory of relationship while on the other side theory used by Rent-A-Car Enterprise is that of situational. Another name of relationship theory is transformational theory and its main focus is on establishing and maintaining healthy relations with the employees. As per the theory of relationship, leaders motivate the employees by building relations with them through open communication and helping them in fulfilling their responsibilities. It results in improvement in the performance of employees of City College, as here the employees are highly motivated (Tourish and Pinnington, 2002). The situational theory helps to deal with different circumstances as well as to manage employees in varying circumstances of Rent-A-Car Enterprise that exist within the place. For example, the company always implements different styles of leadership according to the situations prevailing. Some uses autocratic and other uses democratic style to manage different people. These leadership theories help the City College and Rent-A-Car Enterprise to successfully achieve their organizational goals (Ogawa, 2005).

Evaluate the different approaches to management used by different organizations (LO 2.3)

According to the case study, City College implements Human Behavior Approach at its place. The approach helps in understanding of relations among employees that establishes a healthy culture within the college. This in turn increases the productivity of the staff as well as the management and thus leadership, motivation, communication, and good human relations. Human Behavior Approach is used by mostly of the teaching organization including schools, colleges, coaching centers, etc. So that, City College is also uses Human Behavior Approach as it the states and reveals the manners, in which the knowledge of organization behavior can be applied for effective management in the organization. Rent-A-Car Enterprise is using Decision Theory Approach, which is an effective tool for making suitable and sustainable organization (Youngblood, 2000). In this approach of management, the decisions are the control points in the company. The problem solvers and decision makers are given importance in the organizations using this management approach. It is very effective for big organizations, which have huge work force and requires to tae different types of decisions to solve various problems, so that it is effective in Rent-A-Car Enterprise.

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CONCLUSION

Factors like leadership, motivation and communication, working conditions, personal factors affects individual behavior at workplace (Mcshane, 2011). City College is using democratic leadership style, whereas Rent-A-Car Enterprise is mainly using democratic leadership style, but sometime uses autocratic leadership style also. The Relationship theory in the City College and situational theory in Rent-A-Car Enterprise helps them to successfully achieve their organizational goals.